Folding mechanism



May 1 1945. c. s. sTEPHANo-ETAL FOLDING MECHANISM AFiled May 28, 1945 IN VEN TORS v Consan z'ne S. Sfephano Patented May l, 1945 wat e. orties nomino Mnonlnrsn Application May 28,1943, Serial No. 488,828

2 Claims.

tion, sealing said ends and delivering the closed tube in a sealed condition. While in the drawing, we have disclosed a tube sealed at lboth ends, it will be appreciated that either or both ends of the tube may be sealed in the same manner. While we have shown our invention as applied to a tube containing a cigarette this is for the purposes of illustration only. Our invention may well be used to provide hollow tubes opened at one end, however, for the purposes of the disclosure and description we will describe our invention as it may be used with cigarette Inachinery in producing cigarettes described and claimed in (Constantine S. Stephane) copending application Serial No. 483,393.

In the accompanying drawing,

Fig. l isa top plan View of our device.

Fig. 2 is a cross sectional view thereof.

Fig. 3 is a cross sectional view taken on the line 3 3 of Fig. 2. v

Fig. 4 is a view of the tube containing the cigarettes as it is delivered to the machine.

Figs. 5, 6, 7, and 8 are views of the tube in the various stages of folding.

Fig. 9 is a cross sectional view of a tube bearing the cigarettes as they enter the machine.

Fig. l is a cross sectional view showing the tube and cigarettes in section as it leaves the machine.

Fig. l1 is a perspective view of the sealed tube.

As is set forth in the copending application Serial No. 483,393 individual cigarettes are fed into a cigarette wrapping machine at spaced intervals and wrapped longitudinally in moistureproof material such as Cellophane to form a continuous tube having cigarettes enclosed therein at spaced intervals. The tube is then out between the cigarettes and delivered to the flat bed l5. Bed I is provided on either side with a pair of belts it and ll which move in the direction of the arrows I8 and i9 to carry the tube in the direction 0f the arrow 2l. Guide members 22 and 23 center the tube 2i! on the belt I6 and Il.

We provide a pair of rollers 25 and 25 on which are mounted a soft belt 2l made of rubber or other suitable material which rotates in the same direction as the belts i6 and Il but at a slightly greater rate of speed. A bed member 28 is provided to give the bottom of the belt 27 a firm basis. Mounted on either side of the bed member i5 and extending slightly beyond the belt 2l is a folding member 30 provided with rounded teeth on fingers 3l, 32, and 33 defining rounded notches or grooves 34, 35, and 36 therebetween. The edge 3l defining the rear of the notch 3@ is bent slightly outwardly at 38.

Adjacent to the locking portion 39 of the folding member 3@ are positioned heaters lll and All. As the tubes 2li are fed along on the belts I6 and il and contact the belt 2l they are caused to rotate lin view of the fact that the belt 2l is moving at a faster rate of speed than the belts I ii and Il and they accordingly roll forward along the/belts i6 and Il. As the end of the tube 43 engages the round tooth 3l a portion of the tube is folded inwardly as shown in Fig. 5 and the edge of the remaining portion rolls into the notch 315 while another fold is made by the tooth 32 as shown in Figs. 6 and 7.

As the open portion of the tube rolls into the notch 35 and engages the tooth 33, a third fold is made, the fourth and final fold is made as the last portion of the open tube is enclosed in the notch St against the edge 3l as shown in Fig. 8 thus forming a complete fold. If adhesives have already been applied, they. will have a chance to set as the tube travels along under the belt 2l. If thermo-setting materials such as moisture proof Cellophane are used, the heaters lll and M will deliver heat to the closed end 44 to seal the closure and the nished tube :l5 is delivered to atray by the belts I6 and Il.

While we have shown the folders '30 on either side of the machine, it will be appreciated that were only one end to be closed only one folder will be used. It will also be appreciated that other devices may be added and substituted in our machine for bringing the tube into contact with the folding mechanism.

We claim:

l. Mechanism for closing the ends of tubular material including a bed, a relatively slowly moving belt above said bed for carrying said material along said bed, a relatively fast moving belt above said slow moving belt for engaging and rotating said tubular material as it is carried along said bed, a. folding member adjacent each edge of said bed, said folding member having a plurality of raised portions positioned to engage one of the ends of said tubular material and to make successive folds in saidmaterial as it is rotatingly moved along said bed, and means for sealing said folds.

2. In combination with a cigarette rolling machine for rolling tubular Wrapers around flnished cigarettes, `including a lbed, a. relatively slowly moving belt above said bed for carrying said tubular wrapped cigarettes along said bed A and a relatively fast moving belt above said slow 

